Gov’t to increase awareness of 18 endangered plant species discovered in BVI

Natural Resources Minister Vincent Wheatly wants other countries to model the BVI as government promises to increase awareness of local plant species and habitats threatened by extinction.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Labour will be collaborating with the National Parks Trust of the Virgin Islands along with other international agencies in their final stage of efforts to protect and sustain the discovered Tropical Important Plant Areas (TIPAs) in the territory.

This venture stems from a series of workshops which started in April 2016 that fostered the discovery of 18 TIPAs across 13 islands in the BVI.

The last of those workshops concluded on Monday, April 1 and Wheatley said the work accomplished on biodiversity in the Virgin Islands can be used as a model worldwide to assist other countries.

“I anticipate that the sharing of information will be wide and will benefit our community and schools. As the minister responsible for the National Parks Trust, I pledge my continued support and anticipate that the partnership forged will serve as the springboard for future work, which highlights the diversity and richness of our Virgin Islands” Minister Wheatley said.

Vigorous scientific data is used to unveil TIPAs and the information gained is passed on to government to inform them on how best to manage and protect the sites, while preventing harm to various species.

These specific plant areas provide the government with enough intel to also discover the reasons why certain plants become extinct and provide ways to prevent such from happening.

The BVI TIPAs national team consists of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the National Parks Trust of the Virgin Islands (NPTVI), and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Labour.